Rare Stretch Of 40-Degree January Days Expected To Continue

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The temperature pendulum continues to swing. After it was blisteringly cold on New Year’s Day, temperatures have swung in the opposite direction going into the weekend.

Thursday’s high was 41 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and we’re expected to reach similar temperatures Friday and Saturday.

While Thursday’s high didn’t set a new record, WCCO meteorologist Matt Brickman said that the record high temperature for Friday — Jan. 4 — represents the lowest bar to surmount. The record stands at 41 degrees, which was set in 2007.

Brickman said he sees 41 being attained once again on Friday, followed by potentially warmer temperatures still on Saturday.

It’s rare to have multiple 40-degree days in January in Minnesota. WCCO’s director of meteorology Mike Augustyniak looked back through the records and found that only twice in the last decade have there been three-day stints above 40, and only eight in the last 70 years.

If we hit 40°+ today in the Twin Cities it will likely begin a 3-day stretch of 40° warmth. It turns out that's pretty unusual for the Twin Cities metro #mnwxpic.twitter.com/woSyGuQPh6

Next week looks to roll back the temperatures somewhat, though still above average for this time of year. Starting from Jan. 6 through Jan. 18, the average high temperature bottoms out at 23 degrees before starting to creep back up, degree by degree.